4 things we learned from Patriots training camp on Wednesday

After a day off from training camp, the Patriots were back at it on Wednesday. An immediate story was the absence of wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who it was later learned had been released. Beyond that, Bill Belichick expressed his satisfaction with the work ethic of young defensive duo Deatrich Wise and Derek Rivers. Here are a few other takeaways from the day at training camp: Tom Brady made his presence felt: The characteristically fiery shouts of Tom Brady could be heard from across practice fields after a knifing run from running back Brandon Bolden during an 11-on-11 drill. Brady, encouraged by Bolden’s play, hurled encouraging words at the 28-year-old back. Later, after going through a few reps with wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson, Brady took Patterson aside to go through a few concepts. The two appeared to have a fairly involved conversation that included Brady walking through a route with the former Vikings wideout. Brady was also efficient in drills, going 11-13 in 11-on-11s. Two players left practice: Occurring at different moments during the day, both offensive tackle Marcus Cannon and rookie running back Sony Michel exited practice early. As of the end of practice, no specific reason was given for either’s departure. Stephon Gillmore had a good day: Not that it should come as a big surprise, but 27-year-old cornerback Stephon Gillmore showed his quality and versatility in coverage on Wednesday. On separate plays, he expertly defended passes intended for Chris Hogan and Rob Gronkowski, allowing neither to by… [Read full story]